Consumer confidence slips in February as anxiety over potential recession surprisingly reappears

abcnews.go.com:

American consumers are feeling less confident this month as concerns over a possible recession grew, despite most indicators pointing to a healthy U.S. economy

American consumers are feeling less confident this month as concerns over a possible recession grew despite most recent data pointing to a healthy U.S. economy.

The Conference Board, a business research group, said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index fell to 106.7 from a revised 110.9 in January. Analysts had been forecasting that the index remained steady from January to February. The decline in the index comes after three straight months of improvement.

The index measures both Americans’ assessment of current economic conditions and their outlook for the next six months.

The index measuring Americans short-term expectations for income, business and the job market fell to 79.8 from 81.5 in January. A reading under 80 often signals an upcoming recession.

Consumers’ view of current conditions also retreated, falling to 147.2 from 154.9.

The decline in consumer confidence this month comes as somewhat of a surprise as the economy continues to show resilience in the face of higher interest rates and inflation. Though price growth has receded considerably in the past year, inflation remains above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target.

Consumer spending accounts for about 70% of U.S. economic activity, so economists pay close attention to consumer behavior as they take measure of the broader economy.

Overall, confidence is barely above the average from last year, which was 105.4, according to Stephen Stanley, an economist at Santander, a bank.

Americans were slightly less worried about food and gas prices last month, the Conference Board said, but expressed more